Japanese people work very hard at studying English. They start studying English at the age of 12. Most young Japanese people spend a lot of time and work hard at studying English, but Japanese people are not good at English. Here are the reasons:
There are few people from English-speaking countries in Japan. They don’t have enough chances to speak with them.
Japan is an island(岛)country and they feel that other countries are far away. So they don’t use English very often. And the Japanese feel that it is strange(奇怪的) to talk to each other in English.
The Japanese education doesn’t always follow the educational trends(趋势) in the world. It puts a lot of importance on grammar and vocabulary, and less on speaking, listening and reading skills.
Many Japanese students’ English becomes worse(更糟糕的) after they go to university(大学).They have to learn English again if they work in English-speaking countries.
Sometimes the Japanese feel shy about speaking wrong or broken English.
【小题1】Most young Japanese people        English.

Asking for information or help is a very common and necessary activity, especially when we visit a foreign country. So knowing how to ask for information politely is important. In English, "Where are the restrooms?" and "Could you please tell me where the restrooms are?" are similar requests—both are correct English, but the first could sound rude. It's important to use correct language, but sometimes this alone is not enough—we need to learn how to be polite when we make requests.

In English, just like in Chinese, we change the way we speak when talking with different people. The expressions you use might depend on whom you are speaking to or how well you know them. If you say to your teacher, "Where is my book?" this will sound rude. But if you say, "Excuse me, Mr West. Do you know where my book is?" your question will sound much more polite. On the other hand, it might be alright to say "Where is my book?" in some situations, perhaps with people you know well.

And you would not usually say, "Peter, lend me your pen. " A very direct order like this can sound rude in English. Usually in English polite questions are longer and include extra language, such as "Could you please...?" or "Can I ask...?" It sounds more polite to say, "Peter, could you please lend me your pen?" Sometimes we might even need to spend some time leading in to a question or request. For example, if you stop a stranger in the street, we might first say, "Excuse me. I wonder if you can help me. " or "I'm sorry to trouble you but," before asking them for help.

It might seem that speaking politely is more difficult than being direct, and in a way this may be true. However, in order not to offend people, learning about the language etiquette is just as important as learning grammar or vocabulary. And doing this will also help you become better at English, or any other language you wish to speak.

1. It's important to know how to_     _in English when we visit a foreign country.

2. When you talk with different people, you need to__       _.

3. Extra words are used to help__      ___.

4.._      _is as important as learning language structure.

5. How do you say " Don't smoke here. " politely? "_         __*

Li Ping is a Grade Eight student in Nanjing Sunshine Secondary School. The table below is his mid-term self-assessment(自我评价).He draws faces to show his progress：

【小题1】Li Ping thinks he did best in ______ in Unit 1.

假设你校要举办一期英语墙报,交流学习英语的感受,请你按下面表格中的内容要点提示写一篇题为“Find your own way to learn English”,80个词左右的稿件向其投稿,介绍你学习英语的体会。?

稿件开头已给出,不计入总词数。?

最初的情况现在的情况学习体会

学习?困难单词拼写 听力差 语法出错 阅读速度慢 学习?方法 记单元词汇表?(vocabulary list) 多听磁带 借书阅读 学好英语的关键?专心致志?自有方法